RAW Top 5 Takeaways for 12.26.2016

Here are the top 5 takeaways from this past Monday’s edition of RAW out of the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois via Angie Clark (@angie_cee)

The Triple H/Rollins feud is spinning its wheels

Is it me or is anyone else tired of waiting for Seth Rollins and Triple H to get their hands on each other? So far, we have been waiting for Triple H to make a legit appearance since the RAW where he helped Kevin Owens became champ and explain why he screwed his golden boy out of a title. Hell, I’ve been waiting for the two of them to face off since Trips brought out Brock Lesnar as Seth’s opponent on RAW a year ago. I’m sure the payoff will be great when it happens but at this point, I don’t know if I can stay (or if WWE can keep me) interested until WrestleMania. I’m not the best at predictions but I can almost guess that Triple H will screw Rollins AGAIN in the Royal Rumble in some way and then we’ll be on the road to their feud…finally. But until then, I wish WWE would stop dropping reminders in all of Seth’s promos because don’t worry, I didn’t forget.

Speaking of things I didn’t forget about…can we talk about these pseudo – Shield reunions?

Much like everyone else, The Shield impacted my experience as a wrestling fan greatly. Dean, Seth and Roman dominated the roster from the minute they debuted and was one faction that made the crowd hate them, then love them. Their booking was handled perfectly and their breakup left all the fans in utter shock when Seth turned his back on his brethren to join forces with the tyrannical Authority and was crowned as Triple H and Stephanie McMahon’s new prince. And then they went their own ways…which is how it should stay until we finally hear “Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta…. SHIELD,” blare through the speakers and the three walks through the crowd TOGETHER as a UNIT. Stop teasing us with these team ups of Seth and Roman…it’s not the Shield without Dean and it’s not the same nor is it nostalgic. It almost comes off as Vince’s vain attempt to say “Look! Roman is with Seth now! You guys love him! Cheer Roman too!” No Vince. No.

Something I am cheering for is Neville and the cruiserweights

Holy smokes did Neville come back and give a steroid shot in the ass to that division! When his music hit for the first time two weeks ago I shrieked so loud my dog ran away from his spot in the living room. Then when he turned on and beat the snot out of Rich Swann I immediately felt a million times more interested in him as a character and what he can do for the whole cruiserweight division. Neville comes across as a much more believable heel than Brian Kendrick did and if he gets the title, whoever ends up being the one to dethrone the “King of the Cruiserweights” will have a big time shot in the arm for their career within WWE as well. Also, let’s not forget about the Cedric Alexander/Noam Dar and Alicia FAAAAAAAAWWWWKS storyline. Sleazy, girlfriend-stealing Dar is so entertaining and I’m excited to see how this story develops.

Another development that has me intrigued? Braun Strowman…

Now this may be the unpopular opinion, but I am LOVING this push of Braun. I really feel like he’s set to be the premier big man in WWE and will take over that position for Big Show, as he seems to be on his way out. I even think he could be the person that sends Big Show packing and off to a lovely retirement. Strowman poses an actual threat to guys like Reigns, Rollins and even Rusev who is one of the more dominant, imposing guys on the RAW roster. I know this may seem like a long shot but I could even see a US Title run in the near future for Strowman and why not? Roman doesn’t defend it often and he’s clearly progressing back into the main event picture…let Strowman have a go with the belt and let his dominance continue for a bit.

You know what isn’t progressing? The women on RAW…

What’s going on with the RAW women’s division? The hot potato of the Women’s Championship between Charlotte and Sasha Banks made a lot of fans sour on their whole rivalry as well as the title and its importance. It seems to be that after the draft, RAW only drafted two women! RAW can’t seem to come up with a secondary storyline for the ladies and I really feel like it’s hurting them. Fine, let Sasha and Charlotte fight for the title each week…whatever. But…what about Bayley? What about Nia Jax? Is she going to continually squash people every week then cut awkward promos? Why not let Dana Brooke do something else than be Charlotte’s lackey?? Isn’t SHE tired of being treated like trash? Because I’m certainly tired of watching it! It’s really sad when the Smackdown women’s roster has 6 people and they can all be included every week in TWO HOURS and RAW has a whole extra hour and gives the girls two 5-minute segments each week. AND WHEN THE HELL IS EMMA COMING BACK?!?!? Hopefully, now that the Charlotte/Sasha feud is concluded, we can progress more and get the division exciting again with new rivalries…although I don’t know how I feel about a Nia Jax/Sasha feud…but I’ll take it!

So guys, those are my takeaways from RAW this week! Comment below and chime in!

image credit – WWE.com